Georgia lawmakers moved on Tuesday to strike down a controversial Savannah ordinance that penalized gun owners for leaving firearms in unlocked vehicles.
The new legislation aims to clarify state law by adding the word “storage” to the list of firearm regulations that only the state can control. Existing Georgia law prohibits local governments from regulating the possession, transport, or carrying of firearms.
In a final 32-21 vote on Tuesday, the state Senate passed Senate Bill 204, which now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R-GA) desk for his signature or veto.
Under the new ordinance, Savannah gun owners fined for leaving their weapons in unlocked vehicles prior to the change can sue the city for up to $25,000 plus attorney fees.
The legislative move follows a November 2025 ruling by a Chatham County Recorder’s Court Judge, who threw out a citation against a resident by declaring the ordinance “void and unenforceable” under both state law and the Second Amendment.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and the city council unanimously approved the ordinance to keep firearms out of unlocked cars in 2024. The ordinance detailed that offenders would face a $1,000 fine and up to 30 days in jail.
Local leadership argued the ordinance would make it harder for criminals to access guns in a constitutional carry state where there are few restrictions on carrying firearms.
A former police officer, Johnson championed the rule as a “commonsense” measure to curb a spike in gun thefts.
Republican state Sen. Colton Moore introduced the bill and said Johnson’s ordinance criminalized gun owners rather than regulating cars.
“There are 41 Georgians in Savannah who were victims of a crime, who have now been made criminals because some municipality like Savannah has passed gun legislation that is more stringent than what this general assembly has already passed,” Moore told a local news outlet.
Moore retired from the state Senate on Tuesday after the bill passed and plans to run for the congressional seat left vacant by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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Johnson criticized the state decision and said it looks at the issue from a “30,000-foot view” rather than looking at the guns stolen from unlocked vehicles used to commit crimes.
If Kemp signs the bill, Johnson confirmed that Savannah will immediately stop issuing citations under the ordinance.